Newspaper Page Text
The Southern Israelite
Page 3
WHAT OF INTERMARRIAGES?
Can Jew and Gentile intermarry
successfully? There are those who,
on the very principle of the matter,
decide in the negative. There are
others who prefer to examine the in
dividual cases to ascertain the an
swer. But that the problem is of
paramount importance is evident from
the alarming rate of increase in mar
ital alliances between Jews and
Christians throughout the United
| States. Intermarriage is no new phe
nomenon in American life, having in
| fact started with the very first Jew-
I ish settlers in this country who could
I find no other mates in life except
i Christians. It was thought for a time
| that the liberalization of Judaism
was accountable for those who stray-
| t >d from the fold. But statistics plain
ly show that intermarriage is not
confined to Reform Jews alone, and,
i in fact, is even more numerous, pro
portionately, among the children of
Orthodox homes.
There have been few who have been
aide to approach the question impar
tially and comprehensively. Certainly
in this country the dividing line be-
j tween Jews and Christians has been
| rigid, and a comparative few have
been able to understand the psychol-
1 ogy of both religious groups. The
foremost of these is undoubtedly Lud-
[ wig Lewishon, who himself married
a Christian. But even his views on
| whether intermarriage can be succes-
fu! have never been fully discussed
[ by him except in an indirect and fic
tional manner. Even then he has
been able to shed no light on the
matter that would offer an answer to
those who are baffled by the problem.
N’o Jew has ever studied the matter
from the point of view of science and
I psychology, that is to say, whether
I Jew and Gentile are congenitally
I compatible in so intimate a bond as
marriage. There have been numerous
I marriages between Jew and Chris-
I tian which seem, on the surface, at
| least, to have been happy. But wheth-
I er these were merely superficial ap-
j pearances or actually camouflage can
now be more accurately seen for the
first time as a result of a novel that
has been written by Milton Waldman.
It is likely that few American Jews
know of Waldman except for the no
tices that recently were published in
regard to a tragedy in his life. Mil-
ton W aldman, an American, is one of
the foremost literary figures Ameri
can Jewry has produced. He is now
Associate Editor of the London Mer
cury, and has distinguished himself in
the literary world. He is General Edi
tor of the Golden Hind series which
consists of biographies of explorers
oy famous authors. He himself has
written one of the volumes in the
Ser ies, a life of “Sir Walter Raleigh”
vv hich gave evidence of Waldman’s
deep scholarship and felicitous style.
^Jhat Waldman should be writing
°f Jewish matters has come as a dis-
tinct but entirely welcome surprise.
e is, incidentally, a son-in—law of a
tnember of the famous Guggenheim
- miily. His name was recently men-
! one< l t n the press in connection with
, ? accidental death of his two young
cmidren, who fell from their mother’s
urn-s from the parapet of a lofty
'ca lork building. The question sug-
itself as to whether this trag
A Noted Jewish Writer Discusses
The Problem
By ROBERT STONE
Undoubtedly influenced by the increasing number of intermarriages
between Jews and Gentiles, a number of Jewish writers have devoted them
selves to the problem., more or less successfully. One of the most successful
has been Ludwig Lewishon. Now comes Milton Waldman, Associate Editor
of the London Mercury, a son-in-law of one of the members of the famous
Guggenheim family, who, in a novel, “The Disinherited,” leaves the impres
sion that intermarriage cannot be successful.—The Editor.
edy in his private life induced him to
write his novel, particularly since the
chief figure in his novel is perturbed
by a similar situation.
The title of Waldman’s novel,
which we predict will be even more
widely known than Lewishon’s “The
Island Within,” is “The Disinherited,”
(Longmans), very obviously referr
ing to the Jewish people, who wander
about the earth disinherited.
Waldman is in a position to know
those Jewish circles where intermar
riage is an everyday occurrence. In
fact, his circles are so distinctly far
from Jewish matters that the majori
ty of them do not consider themselves
Jews, even if they do not go to the
extent of calling themselves Chris
tians. ; . j
The central character of Waldman’s
novel is Walter Michaelson, three gen
erations removed from the peddler
grandfather who left a huge depart
ment store as his legacy to his chil
dren and grandchildren. Walter is
married to a Christian, as are his
brothers and other relatives. Wald
man deals with the crisis in his life
when Walter Michaelson suddenly
realizes his Jewishness and his sense
of distinctness from his wife.
Walter Michaelson is the typical
American Jew who has intermarried.
In giving us the story of Michaelson,
Waldman has told us his views on in
termarriage. For in the end Michael
son leaves his wife—to go to Jeru
salem to become more intimately ac
quainted with Jewish life, and very
probably to marry a Jewish woman.
Although “The Disinherited” is a
novel, it has a distinct application to
American Jewish life, considering its
author, it indicates that many inter
marriages which have existed for dec
ades are not as happy as they seem
on the outside; that the cordiality and
open affection between husband and
wife is the mask for a tension that is
never released, and even a hostility
that is never expressed, presumably
because both man and wife are too
well-bred to let this hostility come to
the surface.
Once a Jew always a Jew! That is
the theme of Waldman’s novel. His
views are all the more striking and
convincing because they come from a
man thoroughly unacquainted with
Jewish life, who has really touched
upon the subject as a result of a criti
cal situation in his own life. Wald
man’s judgment is more to be respect
ed in this matter, which is essentially
one of profound psychology, than that
of theologians and reformers. Inter
marriage of a sensitive Jew with a
Christian is devastating to the form
er. That is Waldman’s conclusion.
Furthermore, a Jew who remains
aloof from his Jewish associations,
and who has not the courage, when in
termarried, to retain his Jewish affil-
ations, is dooming himself to spirit
ual sterility.
As one reads “The Disinherited”
one sees how foreign everything Jew
ish is to Waldman. It is this very
naivete, this simplicity of approach
which is bound to make his novel ap
peal to thousands of American Jews
who are either themselves confronted
with Waldman’s problem or who are
impersonally interested in the ques
tion.
“The Disinherited” is a remark
able phenomenon in American life,
furthermore, because it indicates a
new state of affairs in American Jew
ry. Heretofore, Jewish writers have
sought to steer clear of Jewish sub
jects. Now we have a man who has
not even been known as a Jew, who
has never devoted himself to Jewish
themes, who writes a searching analy
sis of his faith and future as a Jew.
It is therefore interesting to read
his conception of what a Jew means.
Waldman says:
“To be a Jew meant to believe
in a great artist who had made the
world and who dearly loved His
creations. He had conceived it with
out flaw, and decreed certain laws
(Continued on Page 13)
These young rabbis, ordained on Saturday afternoon, June 1st, by the
Hebrew Union College at Cincinnati, Ohio, in that institution’s 45th com
mencement exercises, are as follows, left to right:
Top row: Abraham Z. Freed, New York, N. Y.; Joseph Freedam, Steu
benville, Ohio; Ariel L. Goldburg, Cincinnati; Norman M. Goldburg, Quincy,
Ill. (the latter two being brothers.)
Second row: Jacob Halevi, Los Angeles, Cal.; Melbourne Harris, Oakland,
Cal.; Samuel D. Hurwitz, Ft. Wayne, Ind.; Henry Kagan, Washington, Pa.
Third row: Levi A. Olan, Rochester, N. Y.; Louis J. Segel, Detroit, Mich.;
Edgar E. Siskin, Oil City, Pa; Henry Travel, Cincinnati.
Bottom row: Jacob J. Weinstein, Portland, Ore.; Bernard Zeiger, Detroit,
Mich.; David L. Zielonka, El Paso, Tex.; Maurice L. Zigmond, Denver, Colo.
